


Dead

by Wallwalker



Series: 3SF 2021: Disco Elysium works [2]
Category: Disco Elysium (Video Game)
Genre: (although it got a bit too big), 3 Sentence Ficathon, Dreams and Nightmares, Gen, Late Night Conversations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 01:48:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29585388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wallwalker/pseuds/Wallwalker
Summary: That's a very strange question to ask.
Series: 3SF 2021: Disco Elysium works [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2177946
Kudos: 4





	Dead

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Three-Sentence Ficathon.](https://rthstewart.dreamwidth.org/166704.html)  
> Prompt: Any, Any, "Aren't you dead?"

**Aren't you dead?**

That's a very strange question to ask. 

**Oh? Are you the only one allowed to ask strange questions, then? Can't you answer a few once in a while?**

I don't think that's quite the same thing. 

**And why not?**

Because... because when I ask strange questions it's to get answers. Detecting, you know. This feels like weirdness for the sake of weirdness. 

**Oh ho! Maybe it is, but then again, you've got to think about these things sometime. We so rarely talk anymore, since the nightmares started again. Although I have to say, you're doing extremely well, now that you barely remember who _she_ is. Although...**

'Although?' Can't we just leave it with the compliment? 

**Oh, Harry, don't you realize? You're physically unable to take a compliment without doing something ridiculous to play it off. It makes you break out in cold sweats. Haven't you noticed, or are you forgetting about that too?**

I think you're making that up. 

**We'll see what happens next time, then.**

But now I'm thinking about it, and - and - that's not fair!

 **It never is. And you're avoiding my question. Aren't you dead?**

I -

_Oh, stop confusing him. This is ridiculous! Of course he's not dead! He's still breathing, isn't he? Still gets hungry when it suits him, too. Not for lack of trying, mind you - he doesn't always listen - but he's definitely alive. If he was dead, there'd be nothing for me to do!_

Say, yeah. I can't be dead or I wouldn't be talking. 

**Hmm. I can see I need to be a bit clearer. Yes, there's a you there, and yes, you're talking to us. That means that someone's alive in here.**

So what are you getting at?

_Yes, what ARE you getting at?_

**Well, Harry, what about the person you were? The person that most of your fellow officers avoid, when they see you coming and forget that you've forgotten him? The one that your old partner still sees when he looks at you from the corner of his eyes, the one he constantly insults? The one that I think you hear sometimes when you speak, when it makes you shudder? What about him? Isn't HE dead?**

I... but...

**Did he deserve to die? Do you really think you should get to make that choice? Or did you just do what you thought would be best for yourself, and murder him in his sleep?**

_This... this is... I can't engage with this. This is much, much too far beyond what I do. Just stop._

**I'm not asking you, my dear friend.**

I... 

**It's all right, Harry. You don't have to answer me right away. Just... think about it. Isn't that what you're best at? Thinking?**

You BASTARD. 

**Don't worry, Harry. Maybe it's all for the best. Maybe you should hold a funeral for yourself. That would help, wouldn't it?**

"Just stop -" 

(You sit up, realizing that you're alone in the little room, that it's dark and quiet and lonely, that you've been talking to no one at all. You lie back down - there's work to be done in the morning, people to talk to, questions to ask - but the wind is fierce past the window, and it takes you a very, very long time to get back to sleep.)


End file.
